I already have a scale but thats not what I'm recommending.. I'm recommending something easier, simpler more easier & convenient to use...with hopes someday in the future will be a reality. Love these little type of gadgets, I'm sure others out there too

I don't care for having to drag out a scale for a cup or pot of tea... I'd like to see something I can keep with my canisters of teas quick & simple

I don't see how you could have a scoop that would do that. You would almost need to have a calculator just to figure out what volume you would be looking for. Each tea has it's own density, leaf:water ratio, and everyone has a personal meaning of what is weak/med/strong.

of course each has their own preference but it gets annoying with a regular spoon and scale.....
just a reference type guide is all.. very simple....alot of people aren't' perfectionists and just usually go for a teaspoon per cup and cups vary and their teas stink.... I'm a little particular when people offer me a cup of tea, 90% of the time I wouldn't drink it either.. some older folks wont change ways just having available a general guided fool proof type gadget would work for other people then tea masters and of course people who don't' have the time for all that prep....

I know I'd use something quick easy, simple and ready to use and more accurate

isn't this thread for recommendations? of did I post to the wrong thread is so I apologize

First of all, don't get me wrong, this is the thread for recommendations, I'm just trying to help evaluate what the product is that you would be asking for and how it would work.

The 1 teaspoon per 6-8oz cup rule of thumb was created because that was what they felt produced a good cup of tea in an easy to measure method.

The problem that it sounds like you are trying to address though is that you want a way to steep a cup of tea using a more precise method than the 1 teaspoon / cup method, and at the same time not go to the full length of bringing out a scale. Please correct me if i'm wrong here.

The problem though is that a teaspoon was used because it is a handy volumetric measurement. Scooping is fast. The downside of scooping is that based on the density of the tea you get a greater variance, also due to the fact that many fancier loose leaf teas have different leaf shapes, not fitting into a spoon as easily as say a CTC tea. The reason scales are good is that it removes the variance of fitting leaf into the spoon and provides a more consistent steep. You could circumvent this though by basically making a chart of the densities of the teas. I.e. use a scale a few times to measure how many teaspoons for a specific tea you would want to use to achieve suggested weight. Then you would know for a cup of silver needle or something you would know to use two teaspoons.

I don't think that it would be easy enough to make some form of calibrated spoon for someone to measure their tea with for different types of teas because there are soo many different types of teas and only so many calibrations you could put down.

To illustrate what we are trying to say, here are two teas, each pile is 2g, a fairly standard amount for tea bags:

With all the different types of tea and leaf sizes, there isn't really a way to make a standardized scoop. Any such attempt would most likely be just a gimmick, something to sell to people who don't know any better. We're not being snobs, we're just trying to be honest.

Of course this is the Recommendations Thread, and I don't think anyone is trying to shut you down, only explain the problems inherit with this request. But that's not our business. If this is what you want, then I hope Adagio can get it for you.

Last edited by Space Samurai on Apr 3rd, '08, 16:56, edited 1 time in total.

no I don't' think anyones being a snob just I'd really like to see a more convenient type of product similar to these below but a little different even if it was a larger type scoop and use use sliders to differient the tea types of something (for more basic teas of course)

here's a picture of adjustable teaspoons and tablespoon types by Pampered Chef

I understand the weight differences but of course it'd have to be larger by volume but wouldn't there be a way to have a set for different variable teas to use them with? and in stainless steel?

does this make sense? a scoop not a spoon as these.....ohhhhhh!! so hard to put into words

I understand completely what you are asking for, I knew it was like the product you pictured below. But the problem is the differences in teas. I believe I read somewhere that in the world there are something on the order of 100,000 different teas. Each has their own style and density. Even if you could compress that down you'll either have to classify those 100,000 as 10 or less different types of teas, and those 10 would need to have same density characteristics.

The reason measuring spoons like the ones from the pampered chef like you pictured work so well is because of what you are measuring. In that picture for example it's a liquid, looks like cooking oil, and liquids by nature can fill a volume like that very consistently. Same goes for most cooking solids like sugar, flour, etc. But what if you had something saying you needed 1 cup of lettuce. And at the same time that you couldn't compress the lettuce or chop it up. You'll get drastically different amounts depending on the kind of lettuce you use.

While you could obviously make a product like this, it would be such a generalization that it would be a hindrance to a tea drinker rather than a fool proof gadget.

I guess another analogy I could make is asking you to tell me how much a car is. I just want an easy way to just write a check for a car. I'll buy different cars, but just want to have an easy way to know how much it's going to cost me without many questions.

Not to go entirely off topic, but how do you like those adjustable spoons? I almost bought one when I was setting up my kitchen, but read a report (most likely from Cook's Illustrated or Alton Brown...but I'm not 100% anymore) that they were very problematic.

So I put my $6 towards a traditional set of spoons. And somewhere in the middle of writing this, I realize I wasted about 15 minutes of my life researching a $6 product. What the heck was I thinking?

Mary R wrote:Not to go entirely off topic, but how do you like those adjustable spoons? I almost bought one when I was setting up my kitchen, but read a report (most likely from Cook's Illustrated or Alton Brown...but I'm not 100% anymore) that they were very problematic.

So I put my $6 towards a traditional set of spoons. And somewhere in the middle of writing this, I realize I wasted about 15 minutes of my life researching a $6 product. What the heck was I thinking?